While the Pittsburgh Penguins saw their two-Cup streak fall to an end in 2018, it would be foolish to assume that their Cup window has suddenly closed. Carrying Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin basically makes them a contender every year until those two retire, as it’s one of the best one-two combinations the NHL has ever seen. Phil Kessel had a career year with 92 points to round out the team’s three offensive superstars. Just 11 teams had a single player top 85 points, while Pittsburgh had three.

After that, the questions around the team’s offensive depth come into play, but we’ve seen Pittsburgh cycle through a cavalcade of wingers throughout the years without it really hurting their bottom line. Patric Hornqvist and Jake Guentzel put up seasons of 49 and 48 points respectively last year. Depth piece Conor Sheary was moved out in order to shed Matt Hunwick’s salary.

Third-line centre Derick Brassard is on his final year of his deal, which GM Jim Rutherford somehow coaxed Ottawa into retaining salary on. At 31, he’s still likely got another short contract’s worth of NHL-level contributions left in him, but they’d also be wise to likely not fall victim into signing anything in the 6-8 year range for a player projected to play in their bottom-six.

On defence, things get a little murky. Fair or not, Kris Letang’s health is always in question, although he did manage to stay healthy, contributing 51 points in 79 games this past year. Beyond him, it’s far from the most impressive group, but names like Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz bring in some level of talent to the squad.

Matt Murray is still working to prove himself as more than a rookie sensation, as he posted just a .907 save percentage last year in his first season as the team’s undisputed #1. As a unit, the team allowed the 20th most goals in the NHL last season, a mark they’ll likely have to improve on if they’re looking to make another deep run.

However, the Penguins should look no further than the Chicago Blackhawks to see how quickly a dynasty can go south. Swept by Nashville in the 2017 playoffs, Chicago missed the postseason entirely last year, with an aging core looking nothing like the juggernaut that won them three championships within a six-season span. They should still finish near the top of the league, but we’re getting closer to the time when that won’t be a certainty anymore.

After an eventful and at times confusing offseason, the Carolina Hurricanes got off to a scorching start to the 2018-19 season. In their first five games, the Canes went 4-0-1 while outscoring the opposition 22-15 in all situations and 16-9 at 5v5. They were also controlling 62.4% of the unblocked shot attempts at 5v5 during…